


Youth

by queuebey



Category: EXO (Band), K-pop, f(x)
Genre: F/M, kaistal - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-10-20 18:53:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10668732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queuebey/pseuds/queuebey
Summary: Two strangers meet at a funeral and spend the day together trying to distract themselves from grief.





	Youth

**Author's Note:**

> This was crossposted from asianfanfics! It can be found these under the same username.  
> I'm not much of a hetero pairings fan but Kaistal is one of my few exeptions hehehe.  
> The summary is pretty vague but that's pretty much it really.  
> Inspired by the song Lost Stars performed by Adam Levine.

A cold winter day. The trees were bare of any covering, their branches shaped as forks that seemed as if they would prickle any inattentive passerby. The grass was still wet from the rain of the previous night, its colour was of a vivid green that contrasted greatly with the present atmosphere and right in the middle of that field was a hole.  
A recently dug hole, rectangular in shape and its depth was precisely 6 feet. About a dozen of people covered from head to toe in all black surrounded the hole, looking down at it as a box that fit perfectly in it descended - a coffin.   
As the symbolic ceremony ended not long after, most of the ones present left to continue on with their day as if the recent happenings were nothing but a sad inconvenience to their busy lives.  
But a girl and a boy remained, staring blankly at the newly engraved words in the tombstone.   
She wore a simple yet stunning black dress and he, a similar in description suit, although lacking a coat to complete the attire.  
“Kai, right?” she said, breaking the silence.  
“Yes”  
There was a pause, “She would always talk about you… I… I still can’t believe it”, she said.  
Kai felt tears forming in his eyes, but he was tired of crying, “You were her teacher, right? I remember seeing you two talking a couple of times”  
“Yes… Krystal” she introduced herself.  
There was another long pause and for a couple of minutes no one said a word. Kai averted his gaze from the ground and breathed in the cold morning air of the lifeless place.  
“There’s a nice park not too far from here” he paused “I don’t think staying here for much longer will do us any good” he said suggestively.  
“Alright” 

They walked side by side for a couple of blocks until reaching the park. It was early in the morning and winter, so the place was devoid of any living souls apart from them two. It was a beautiful place, the type that would look breathtaking and gleeful was it spring or some other more cheerful season.   
They kept walking, the cold air slowly damaging their lungs. But little did they care for too many thoughts kept invading their minds, too many now painful memories rushing back to them like a ton of bricks.

When they reached the exit of the park they were welcomed by the sound of cars passing by and of indistinct chatter, reminding the two that they were indeed in a city.  
“Do you have any plans for today?” Kai asked, finally looking at the girl for the first time that day.  
“I canceled everything” Krystal said, looking back at him.  
“I think we could both use some drinks right now”  
“It’s not even midday yet” she said, with no signs of denying the boy’s offer in her tone.  
“I know”

And so they found themselves in a bar. It was not very crowded and looked like a reputable place. They started slow, one shot of pure vodka, per Krystal’s choice. A bit of pointless small talk and another shot, and another, and another, and another.  
Surprisingly enough, though, neither of them felt even a bit tipsy, they could hold their liquor well. But it was not all in vain, for the bitter taste of alcohol helped calm their turbulent minds.  
“So what now?” he asked her.  
“Let’s get something to eat” she said while hopping off of the stool, already making her way out the bar.  
Kai was a bit shocked at the girl’s sudden actions but paid no mind considering the circumstances and just gave the bartender some money and left after her.  
She had walked quite a lot in that meantime so he had to run a bit to catch up to her, “Where are we going?”  
“Eating”  
“Well, yeah, I got that much. But where specifically?”  
“No idea”  
He halted his steps, “Wait, so we’re just going to walk aimlessly until we find a nice place to eat?”  
Seeing that he wasn’t following her anymore, she turned back, ”Uh, yeah” she paused, “Unless you have a better idea”  
He thought for a bit, that area of the city was unknown to him, but he remembers going there once, with her.  
“I know a place” 

“An ice cream shop?” Krystal asked incredulously.  
“I went here with her once, I thought it was fitting”  
“Drinks before noon, ice cream for lunch during the winter, you’ve got the most out-of-the-box ideas I’ve seen in a while” she said already stepping in the place.  
“You don’t seem like you hate the idea, though” he said rather teasingly.  
“Because I don’t. Ice cream during the winter is actually one of my favourite things”  
The two ordered three big scoops of delicious ice cream and sat at one of the tables on the outside of the place, it seemed like they were both quite fond of the cold.  
“So what do you do?” Krystal said while taking the first spoonful of the dessert (or rather, lunch).  
“I’m an accountant for this firm, very boring”  
“I can imagine, I’m not much of a number’s person”  
“But you’re a teacher” he said questionably.  
“Yeah, but I’m only required to know some pretty basic things for the job”  
“Fair” he agreed, then said “Want to try some of mine?”  
“No, thanks, not a fan of mint”  
“But it’s only one of the flavours, there’s Belgian chocolate and caramel too” he argued.  
“Yeah but the mint has like infected everything”  
“Infected everything? Well that’s a new one” he said smiling.  
Krystal, who was focused on enjoying her ice cream up until that point, that she was surprised by the boy’s smile. They had been accompanying each other for hours but nothing even close to a smile dared to appear on their mouths. It seemed like he noticed it too, for just as fast as it appeared, it vanished. But she had already seen it, and came to the conclusion that it suited him.

Once the “meal” was finished, they simply wandered around, with no aim in mind but none questioned.   
It was past 6pm when they somehow started walking back to the place where they formally met.  
The activities they had indulged in were somewhat distractive, pulling their minds off of what had happened just a few hours prior, but now they were back, and so were the thoughts.  
But just before reaching the gates, Krystal said “We should buy flowers, let’s go” pulling the boy with her.

“Which should we get?” she asked after a couple of minutes of looking through the shop and the beautiful variety of flowers in it.  
“Orchids” Kai calmly said, not having to spare a second thought at his decision.  
Upon hearing his affirmation, the owner quickly started making them two beautifully arranged bouquets.  
“But why?” she asked.  
“Orchids have the universal meaning of something like I will always love you” he paused, “It’s a fitting choice, don’t you think?”  
“It’s perfect”

They each took their turn in putting each flower of the bouquet on the grass, just in front of the tombstone and just sat there for a while, not uttering a word to each other.  
A muffled sob soon broke the silence and Krystal turned her head to see Kai who was trying very hard to keep his emotions in, tucked into the deepest corner of his heart, where they belonged.  
“Don’t” she said.  
He looked questionably at her.  
“Don’t keep it in”  
Tears had found their way to her eyes as well as she said “Cry”  
And so he did, with no reprimations. Because fuck it, he won’t get to do that later, so he might as well.   
And so she did, with no reprimatoins. Because life was so unfair to the good and innocent, so she might as well.  
And so they did. Supporting her head on his shoulder while his rested atop of her own, they did.  
As the sun set, they did.

He remembered Krystal saying, “Don’t let your best memories bring you sadness”

She remembered Kai standing up and extending his hand to say, “Let’s see where we wake up tomorrow”

He didn’t know how they had gotten there, but they were now sat on a hotel bed, alcohol bottles littering the floor as they made out.

She didn’t know when, but all of their clothes were somehow thrown on the floor along with the empty bottles of liquor, but she couldn’t care less.

 

Then morning came.  
“Good morning”  
“Ngh, good morning”  
“Here” Kai said, giving her a half empty bottle of water.  
“You know, I really should thank you”  
“What for?” she questioned after gulping down the whole bottle.   
“For keeping my mind off… Everything” he replied honestly.  
“Well, I need to thank you as well, for the same reason. I guess that makes us even”  
“Guess so” he said flashing her a shy smile.  
And she smiled too.

 

The support they offered each other was not forgotten as a few weeks later Kai mustered the courage to visit the school his little sister once studied at. If someone asked him, he would say he only went there to relive the beautiful memories he shared with her before passing, as someone once told him not to let those bring him any form of sorrow. But that was only half of the truth. The peculiar day they spent together permeated his thoughts frequently and he needed to see her again, making his visit even more convenient.  
He walked around the slides and the swings, remembering his sister’s gleeful smile as she ran around the area before noticing him standing on the sidewalk to pick her up and quickly running to him, greeting him with a tight hug.  
Differently from all others times he reminisced, though, this time he didn’t cry, all there was was a small smile plastered on his face. There was no point in grieving for much longer. It was not fair, not at all, and she was far too young, but he had to move on.   
Life goes on.  
And as he finished that thought, the school’s bell rang and rushing out went dozens of happy running children with their respective teachers walking right behind to make sure no one would get hurt amidst the ruckus.  
“Seulgi stop running after Irene! Your mother is waiting to pick you up, do you want to embarrass her like that?”  
“No, Ms. Jung”  
“Good, now hug your friend and apologize… There we go”  
The small conversation caught his attention when he recognized a familiar voice and when he lifted his gaze, he was met with the sight of exactly who he had been looking for.  
It was odd this time, though. During their meeting that day he was too overwhelmed to notice the beauty she was, but now seeing her after weeks, he was mesmerized.  
Soon she noticed his presence too, and walked over to him, although still paying attention to see if any of her students weren’t getting into trouble.  
“Hey”  
“Hey”  
“So, how are you holding up?” she asked turning her head to him.  
“Surprisingly well, actually” he replied honestly.  
“That’s good to hear” she said, genuinely happy for him.  
“You?”  
“I guess I could say the same”  
Comfortable silence followed, and after all kids had already left, they sat on one of the kids tables.  
“It’s been a month… How did the kids take it?”  
“Children don’t usually understand the concept of death, but I think they understood that she was… Gone. It was one hell of a day, let me tell you, a lot of tears and a lot of snot too”  
“Ew” he said, laughing.  
And he smiled again, and once again, much like that day a month ago, she wasn’t expecting it. She took that time they were spending together to appreciate his features since she didn’t really get to then. Meeting like this was enjoyable, the thought of never seeing him again bothered her quite a lot. But perhaps that wouldn’t be their last meeting.  
“So, uh, do you… Wanna go out sometime?”  
For two people who have slept together before, they really could be awkward around each other, but Krystal didn’t mind it one bit, “I’d love to” she replied with a smile.  
And he smiled back.


End file.
